


F.ɪ.ᴠ.ᴇ [ᴜᴍʙʀᴇʟʟᴀ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ]

by Wabbajackle



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Age Regression/De-Aging, Age difference will be adressed - Freeform, Aliens, Arson, Crimes & Criminals, Evil Corporations, F/M, Forgive Me, Historical References, I do not condone large age gaps based off of appearance, I'm Bad At Tagging, Literary References & Allusions, Not as smart as the actual show, Partners in Crime, Philosophy, Reader-Insert, References to Drugs, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Talking Animals, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25698043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wabbajackle/pseuds/Wabbajackle
Summary: He tucked in his tie and adjusted his collar, his head swiveling to look at you."You know, I wanna think you're lying, but something about today tells me that you're not."As if setting fires to mansions and running from the time police isn't enough of an indicator that something is afoot, you also find out something about yourself that you never wanted to know.-----Story now, romance later! Slow burn, unlike the mansion. Things are going to go swimmingly, just ask your goldfish-- he likes to talk.[SEASON 2 IS OUT!!]
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy)/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 107





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work has been cross-posted on Wattpad {@Wabbajackle}
> 
> Originally started March 29th, 2019, is going through a revamp. 
> 
> Usually I write gender neutral readers, but seeing this is an old work, I had not. Forgive the occasional reference to gender, I'll try to avoid it in new chapters!

Chapter 1

Stepping off the bus, the crevices in the leather handle you held dug into your skin. She lived in a relatively nice apartment complex, and just as you would every other lesson day, you stopped home and dropped off your stuff, not bothering to fix up.

As normal, the hall was dark and smelled a bit like old book covers, but it didn't bother you much as you sat your case down to batter your knuckles against the door just like every other lesson day. It was only your third, but you were doing surprisingly well for a beginner. You had a problem distinguishing sharps from flats, but she said you had nice posture. You may have been starting late, but fifteen wasn't too old to learn. 

"Vanya?" You called out, knocking again. The laces on your sneakers dragged with the spin of your foot and you bent over to tie them, looping the stained off-white strings into a lopsided bow.

"..She's not home right now." You hadn't even noticed the door open and jumped, muscles stiffening. In front of you seemed to be some uninterested preppy kid, which was unsurprising as you did know that Vanya had other students. 

Standing up, you scuffed your shoes on the carpet of the hall, catching a look at his. You didn't have school uniforms, but the shoes to his looked almost as if they hurt on the heels. You'd dealt with plenty of snobs before, so you wouldn't give much regard to his tone.

"Did something happen? This is my lesson day." Civil, innocent, polite, you didn't put a toe out of line, but he looked at you so sour that you might've thought you made fun of his knee-high socks.

He wanted to say your lessons weren't important at all, but then he remembered that you weren't exactly informed about the whole end-of-the-world coming up, so he held back his snippy remark. 

Then, to accompany his scowl, he raised his hand. You turned your body, curling, and kicking the case of your violin by accident, but he just furrowed a brow at you and leaned his raised arm on the wood of the doorframe. A question, one you didn't want to answer. He got it, so he clicked his tongue and nodded. 

"Welp. I'll tell her you stopped by." He pursed his lips in an exaggeratedly forced smile, basically inviting you to go away.

You picked up the case as well as the hint, and as you did you realized the very slight height difference. You might've even been taller than him. You also noticed the golden flakes sprinkled in his hair from the light coming from the apartment. He'd been staring you down, as if getting a little more annoyed by the second.

Huh, with the eyecontact though, you could see there was a little bit of green in his greyish blue eyes. 

For someone so nervous, you had no problem meeting someone's gaze. It took you long enough before you bobbed your head in understanding and turned around. Passive. Stiff too, by the looks of it. 

You could feel his eyes on your back, you were trying to make yourself quiet, trying to seem normal. 

He found it odd that you walked on the tips of your toes to avoid making the floorboards creak. Afraid of your own noise.

You raised your hand in a goodbye, realizing you forgot one thing. Awkwardly, your voice was as small as you felt. 

"Tell her (Name) was here."

The digits of his fingers slid along the doorframe as he let out a tired sigh. He'd been alive for long enough to see the signs, even if he didn't personally care. Understanding human behavior was good for the job, helped iron out complications before they happened. 

Not that the information would be of much use to him, he had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing much more of you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He tapped his waxed shoe on the floor. It obviously needed a shine, and was covered with a dusty rug-- whoever chose such dreary and dull colors, he didn't know, but he would've thought Vanya had enough of dark and depressing. He crinkled the day's newspaper in between his thumb and index finger waiting for her- it being only a matter of days before the world would end, and he was definitely not swimming in time like the Organization. He knew of a certain fish however that was, and he scoffed to himself, slightly amused. 

He continued clicking his heel to the floor, until interrupted by the scrape of metal as the latch at the door was undone.

"Took you long enough. Where were you?" He glanced up, setting his newspaper down.

"Oh-Jesus-" Her bag clapped against the floor, which she maybe would have tried to swing at him, had she not been so timid. "Again Five?" She picked it up and tossed it onto the counter with a thump, lifting her arms to wrap her scarf around the coat hanger.

"Your student stopped by." She pulled her cellphone out her pocket and also dropped it onto the counter. So she must've talked to you on the phone. "Yeah, yeah I know." 

"So then." He paused, hair grazing the back of his collar as he tilted his head. "What's she like?"

"..." She turned to him, taking a moment to think about it. His intrigue was pointless, but he might as well make small talk anyways if not anything else. After her few second of a pause, she lifted her dark brown eyes to gaze into his. 

"Quick learner..quiet girl." She said, pulling out her violin. He tried to picture the girl holding the violin the same way his sister did, listening obediently to her instructions, doing her best to hold her wrist properly, shifting her forearm back and forth in a sloppy vibrato. "A bit like us in her own way." 

"I doubt that." She quieted, but didn't retort.

She waved it away and closed her eyes, raising her bow. Five may not have agreed, but he didn't know you like she did. 

That was fine, it was probably better that way. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Current objective: Gather data on (First Name) Moncoury."

Hazel glanced over his partner, the ear flaps on her mask shaking with disappointment. "Man. We just don't get a break do we?" ChaCha's car keys jingled in her hand, walking off to the sounds of cars honking and the rain crackling against pavement soaking through their suits and casting a sheen on any surface it could touch. "Wonder what this one's about." He said flatly, opening the door to the passenger seat.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mrs. Windsor, I'm back." You set down the case with a premeditated gentleness and sat down, ignoring the door to the study where you were expected to be at the moment. Along the faded dusty green walls were a few different decorative prints, one a candle tied to a clear string being tugged off into an endless sea, another of children blowing iridescent bubbles as they sat with gargoyles. 

Taking a moment to soak it in, you could picture the shimmering sphere forming at the end of a wand, almost convincingly magic, if not for the poisoning that age had implanted within the thoughts that fed imagination. It all faded away as quickly as it came, and you noticed how oddly quiet it was in your usually racing mind. You glanced over to the bookshelf, then the TV which was pretty much as good as static with how late it was, but even so you knew you didn't have time to really get invested in either at the moment. 

As it was, it was boring. It was the usual amount of lonely, and the usual amount of quiet, save for the sound of trains packing and loading not far away in the trainyard. You thought back to what Ms.Vanya had shown you last time, wrist curved, space between your second and third finger. The sounds you had made weren't very pretty, they were chalk-on-a-blackboard cringy, and the mutilated screeches sometimes doubled when you accidentally touched another string. If she wasn't deaf after that, you surely were.

You almost wondered what your caretaker would think of them. Mrs. Alicia Von Moncoury Windsor wasn't a very caring parent, but you didn't mind. She was awkward in her attempts to make it seem like she cared, but she had her moments. While she wouldn't allow "Those beasts who'll only knock over my lalique vases?!", by which she meant anything with legs and living, she had bought you a fancy little fish at an event, who you'd named Ferdinand. Ferdinand the fish was quite intriguing and playful, and even a talkative one too- sometimes he'd let out two bubbles instead of one! With your little hint of bitterness aside, you didn't particularly dislike the little animal. He was nice to look at, being an odd kind of goldfish to which you recalled was known as Ryukin Calico, one the woman had snagged off a showfish breeder and payed a ridiculous amount of money for. It had something to do with the length of his fins and the quality of his scales, though the woman seemed to only care that he was of value, and felt that you should somehow be grateful for her expensive, unnecessary gift as if it were obligation. When she wasn't busy insisting you call her mother, she'd be attempting and failing to buy your affections through private schooling and violin lessons. Again, it wasn't like you absolutely despised her, but you felt like she only adopted you for another headline in the news, "Widow gazillionaire honoring late husband by taking care of poor orphan with undisclosed origins".

"Whatever." You said to yourself, but tried to rid yourself of such ungrateful thoughts. You had so much, and for that, you could be at least a little bit thankful. You easily could have been another unwanted nobody on the streets, but instead you were in a mansion and not under a bridge. All of that aside, you were also quite grateful for the hot shower you were about to indulge in, and the velvety soaps that sat in ornate dispensers which all smelled of various distant memories, such as tiny energetic feet thumping past the kitchen before dinnertime or catching a whiff of her exotic floral perfumes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"She's not really doing anything." Her hands clicked the lenses to magnify the image, and handed them back to Hazel. "Nothing much to gather." The man had given off a particularly annoyed vibe even without saying anything, and slowly lowered the binoculars in his hand. "Boring." He puffed out, hooking his finger around the grey polyester of his vest. "Well, I'm hungry, no point in sticking around." She was inclined to agree with him, but didn't want to disobey orders. 

"Just wait- She's moving." They both watched, eyes fixated on your form as you filled up a glass of water.

"Yeah that's it, I'm done." She pointed her thumb back to 'their' car. What they didn't know, however, was the excruciatingly important little detail they were inevitably about to miss. 

'I hate these things.' You thought as you popped the pill into your mouth.

They both looked back. "Kid's just drinking water. This is pointless." The keys jingled, and doors shut. Leaning against the counter in the reflection of the window behind you, the car drove away.

But, they turned again to look at each other, as if maybe sharing a collective thought as Hazel turned the wheel. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Oh shit!" He ducked into an alley, hoping they hadn't caught sight of him, which it seemed that they didn't. He couldn't really tell where they were coming from, but he leaned against a street light for a second, looking at the direction they'd went driving down. Shaking it off, he raised the bottle to his mouth and continued on, ignoring the few concerned stares thrown his way. He paused and shifted his eyes upward, making out the faint glow of the stars. It disappointed him that light pollution made it hard to see them, but he got over it with another sip of the burning petrol-tasting concoction of alcohol.

He raised his eyebrow when he saw the faint silhouette of what looked quite a bit like you, the violinist-in-training from earlier sitting on the steps to the old Moncoury Mansion. He knew his father was acquainted with the family, which is why he doubted you were one of them. They were a pretty reclusive family, so he doubted they'd let a kid out, especially such a young girl like you. 

He just whistled and walked on past.

You looked up from your notebook when you heard the whistling, but the railing had just blocked your view as the stranger walked past, so you just continued working. You were practicing chemical equations as per your guardian's oh so loving request. In a chemical aspect you were like a Halogen, upper crust but most definitely not Mrs. Windsor's high-class Noble Gas exterior, unmoveable, unchangeable, not needing of anyone. You were still missing something, one little piece of the puzzle before you, too, could be as stable as the Noble Gases. Once stable on your own, who knew what you'd do with real freedom. 

'Comparing people to elements now?' You thought. Generally it was stars in aspects of standardization- The Main Sequence, but today you supposed it was back to the periodic table, since that was what you were practicing at the moment. She was the Sirius and you were just a little red dwarf, a common blood cell working, a cog in the machine.

"Huh. Depressing." You muttered to yourself.

For the family, you weren't a very special addition. To outsiders perhaps you'd be extraordinary just because of your family name, but that wasn't enough to earn you the favor of your mother who refused for the most part to let you meet your relatives. 

The family name was kind of a stupid one anyways. You didn't know what your real last name was, but you'd probably like it more than Moncoury.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As the shower turned on, steam whafted up and fogged the mirrors. The bathroom had always smelled faintly of various assorted fragrances, a mixture of vanilla, lavender, almond- a sweet and nutty hint, and other more herbal scents tossed into the bathing concoctions the woman would experiment with. The fumes coming off of her creations were sometimes able to gas out the area, and you'd have to prop open the awning windows which sat in a portrait setting, with obscured panes making it hard to see out of when they were closed. The bathroom itself had a few paintings protected by thin filament to keep them dry, all framed in extravagant gold swirls and flowers. While it wasn't the only bathroom, it was unfortunately the closest one to the dorming quarters. The building itself used to be a school originally, and for a short while an office for the Montgomery Industrial Company, which then through marriage became Moncoury property. It was only one of many buildings the Mrs. owned, but it was by far your favorite, for it was the one you'd been raised in.

You weren't around for most of the renovations, but you did remember when they were recreating the observatory dome, one that had been destroyed in a two story fire in the 1940's which left the fourth and fifth floor off limits. It still was, but you were allowed up the North corridor which just had a bunch of useless rooms and some leftover construction materials. The Observatory and greenhouse made up the fifth floor, which was once solid wall before they knocked down the rubble and remastered the roof. It was one of the saddest moments in the Montgomery-Moncoury history, resulting in the death of the last Montgomery heir. It was only the Moncourys left by law, and the Montgomery heritage line was wiped out for good. A sad ending to an old family, one that was yours, if only through legality. Even though you weren't really family nor around at the time, you still understood the sad implications as your guardian had dug up one of old Markoney Montgomery's dusty journals and sat you down to tell the legacy of the heirloom, the only surviving object of the fire.

So then she said to you this, and you had more questions than you had answers.

"I need you to know that no matter what, you are the Moncoury heir." Her hold pressed heavily on your skin as she squeezed your shoulder. "No matter who argues your blood, your background, it is you." It was probably the most momentous conversation you'd had with the woman, and it was one engraved in stone when it came to your mind. There was something odd about that day, as if she were telling you something that you didn't have the background to understand. You didn't really understand why she'd told you that, but you felt oddly moved by the woman for the first time. You could almost imagine the almost-affection seeping from her words that day as she spoke so sure of herself, and sure of you. You were a Moncoury.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I rescheduled with (Name)." Vanya said as she recalled the conversation over the phone. "She'll be over at six, just to let you know." Five closed his eyes and leaned further into the couch cushion, suppressing the urge to groan. He'd came here to plan, not expecting interruptions. "Then I don't need to stick around." His voice came out an irritated tone as he smoothed out his hair. "You don't necessarily have to leave-" He'd warped off before she could finish talking, and she let out a sigh. The couch was still dented from where he'd sat. There was still another hour or so before your lesson, so he had time to come around should he choose to. She only wondered how the two of you would interact, and the more she thought of it, she could see Five enjoying how surprisingly well-thought you were. Maybe an acquaintance outside of the family would do him some good. It would only be to each other's benefit anyways, she was no stranger to the quietness you wore as a shield to hide what you were truly feeling in your far off, distant mind.

Rosining her bow, she wondered if she should prepare something to eat, as an apology for not being able to make it last time. Glancing up at her clock, she noticed she wouldn't have enough time, but remembered the box of donuts on the stove. She felt anxiety slightly bubble in her chest, but the acidic taste faded as she sipped her soda. It was probably because it was uplifting to know, in some weird way, she wasn't the only one who felt so unspecial while being surrounded by extraordinary things. To for once, finally, not be alone. That made her very anxious.

"I left for a second and you're trembling." He sat next to her, gaze lingering on her twitching hands. "Kid's really that bad?" He asked, but she was quick to defend you. "It's not that." She blurted out, her lips pursing as her brown eyes sunk to the floor to advert his gaze. "I just need to take my medication." 

He leaned back and closed his eyes. Vanya scurried off to take her medicine, and he'd already felt antsy, frantic. He had to stop the end of the world, not protect his fainting goat of a sister from her own nervous habits.

It was only a few minutes after that the knock on door sounded in the quiet apartment, making him grumble. Did he really have to be the one to answer the door? He thought she should have just ditched lessons because, hello, the end of the world, but Vanya insisted on living her boring little normal life, even with less than a week to live. 

He stood to his feet, patting his knees. It only took him a second to jump to the door, and it creaked as he forced it open.

"Oh." You'd jumped as he stood just a few inches away- meeting face to face with him, his knitted brows painting his slight hostility. He relaxed into a slightly less tensed pose and locked onto your eyes. "Sorry- I wasn't expecting-" "mm." He grunted in disinterest and moved to the side to let you in. You felt a bit stiff from his belligerent actions, but you wouldn't show him that- whatever was annoying him, it wasn't your fault, you reminded yourself. Something must've soured his mood that had nothing to do with you, and he was acting rudely as a result of it. At least, that was what you tried to reason.

It seemed around him, all you could feel was tense. 

Recomposing yourself, you thought of words to say. "..I brought some tea, if you want some. Vanya told me she likes it." You realized how emotionless you sounded as you spoke, back turned to him as you stood awfully still. He's not your authority figure, you need not treat him like you would her. 

He blinked, and flickered his eyes over to your direction as you slipped off your long black button coat. That sounded trained, like it was reinforced with practice. "Sure." He muttered, but not rudely, just more in thought than anything. After hanging your coat on the rack, you heard footsteps, and looked up. "Oh! (Name), I thought I heard you come in!" Vanya peeked in from the kitchen, and the box in her hand caught your attention. She placed it on the coffee table while you dug into your bag to grab the two bottles of tea you'd brought. You handed one to him, not really caring that it was yours. "Here." You held one out to her as well, and she took it. "Thanks." She gave a small smile as her eyes glanced down. He kept his focus on the window shades as he sipped from the bottle, leaving the cap on the table. "This is my brother Five." She sat down, looking over at him, but he ignored the two of you. "Five..?" You looked over at him, but he dipped his head and scowled as if being introduced was the last thing he wanted. 

"Welp, dear sister." He clasped his hands, the corner of his lips tugged back as his shoes scuffed against the carpet. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

He went to leave, but hesitated, looked back at you, then grabbed the tea to brink it with him. You jumped as the door slammed shut, and sunk back into the cushion a bit awkwardly. 

"Sorry about him, he's a bit.." She trailed off, but you just stared at the door. "He's just not good with people." Not good with people was a stretch, he was gone for forty-five years, but she wasn't going to mention it. 'Don't let appearances fool you, I suppose.' She thought, unclasping the locks on her violin case. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Violin." Hazel said, shutting the lenses of the telescope. They both sat on a roof, secretly watching. "How nice." Cha Cha said sarcastically. "The kid's completely boring." "I mean, we're not even killing anyone." He added, rubbing his eyes. "Yet." She said. "We still have to look for that little shit."

He watched them from afar, and wondered what it was they were plotting. But one thing was for sure. 

Vanya wasn't safe.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (short chapter)

Her lips spoke slowly, but not even a whisper of it reached your ears. Her eyes were as wide as a bovine's, her heel pinned to a screw as it spun on the stage. She seemed to be a mechanical doll.

You found yourself standing directly in the center of a spacious, well-decorated room, staring up at the portrait of a boy who's face you couldn't quite remember.

"Not yet my dear." The blond ballerina was off her pedestal and she stepped into view. "Don't go yet, your mother brought you rosemary." 

Her tone was a delightful chirping of a songbird as she reached her tipped claws up and sprinkled the plucked pieces of green onto your face. You attempted to rise from the goose plush chair, but a smell had waft up in a silky ribbon scented of herbs and tied around your throat- securing you to the backrest like the reins of a pony. Restricting. 

She pitched her head to the side as if a child watching a sparrow on it's windowsill, retaining the same enthralling smile. You pushed shut your eyelids, but they were then painfully propped open with metal prongs. The room around you faded, and a single shiny needle crept up, closer and closer, to your one, open, eye. 

You sat up in through the complete darkness of your window. It was lightly raining, and the cars the passed by made a faint swishing noise which you could hear from inside your room. The walls were painted with semi-realistic wispy clouds which you could see only partly through the low silvery light that came from the moon. Nothing but a bad dream. That's all it was. 

Klaus too stirred from his sleep and shot up, finding himself at the side of some random stranger. "Rosemary, tasteful." 

He pushed himself off the edge of the mattress, stepping over another random body. "Though I'm more of a Thyme person." He waved his hand, saluting the knocked out drugged bodies that lay scattered on the floors.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter for some plot setting up, woo! I'll be updating again, please bear with me and my wacky whateverness going on...

Chapter 5

Silence permeated through the halls, the air stiff though this particular quarter had been decorated with light unlacquered wood, a sort of sandy color that would be seen on the beach. The morning light had come from the spotlight windows placed in intervals so that there were gaps between them, striping the walkway where underneath sat potted vines that made walking through just a little more tolerable. Part of the mansion had been connected to some office space where the complex was more renovated, and as you got closer to that part of the building, the scent of files and office carpet became stronger. For the most part though, you didn’t go over to that corner of the city block. 

Mrs. Windsor liked to work from home, so naturally she set up headquarters just a walk in the hall away. The nice thing about that, was that in C-division, the one with rooms mostly for the archivists and low position employees asked to fetch information, you were allowed to frequent. It wasn’t an office, but sitting amongst rows of file cabinets and stools with the occasional potted plant collecting dust on a faded carpet wasn’t the worst place to spend time.

School laptop in a sensible folder carrier, the thing was thin and sleek, the color of steel with black trimmings and a black keyboard. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but it had a tan band-aid over the webcam that had just started to peel where it wrapped around the top and peeked out on the other side. It just ran the regular windows programs, and had enough computing power for keeping documents and simple flash games, though anything not typing or little dinosaurs jumping over cacti and it’d heat up really fast to the point it had to shut itself off. It was designed completely to combat fun. 

You hoped Ferdinand wasn’t offended that you chose to leave your room today, but the dark and rusty light was making it hard not to drift off and you really needed to go through the new required book list for literature class. You had access to the audiobooks, but it’d be nice to buy a physical copy to go along with them-- and for that, you decided, you might just take the debit card and head out to one of those charming little cafe-bookstores that you passed on the bus on your way to violin lessons. Speaking of, you were yet to put together a classical playlist as per Vanya’s instruction, who said learning violin was going to mean nothing intricate for a while, but that it would be good to figure out pieces you’d want to play so she’d know where to start and what goals to set. 

Inhaling softly, you ran your hands over the coarse fibers of the rug. Pretty standard rug for a workplace. You wondered why so many of them chose that kind of carpet that most shoes would loudly scuff on when it would break everyone else’s concentration. That was your cue to get up, before your skin was imprinted any more by the rough texture. 

You’d have to walk all the way back to the front of the block where the mansion sat, though technically one building, it was sort of three different buildings connected by hallways on the first and third floors. This particular building didn’t have the hanging glass tube hallways that the newest building did, since it had been fairly old, and the other one was completed only around a year ago. The construction was an eyesore on your way back from the public library, but the noise was barely noticeable unless you were walking down that street to get to the part of the block you lived on. Now it seemed kind of wrong to have the workers in hardhats missing and the fences taken down. It was a brand new building, and that was it, that stiff modernism. If anything, it matched your laptop. It hardly went well with the old art deco, slightly gothic style of the mansion.

In the middle was a cross courtyard with a cherry blossom and a pond full of Koi, decorated with hanging moss from the balconies and rocks covered with a different kind of moss. It was prettiest when it rained and the concrete walkway was littered with fallen petals. For the most part though, your part of the world was small, since you’d been pretty much confined to your one singular room and the showers out of the hundreds of others in the complex for most of your life. Just on a far wing, pushed out of the way. You were a public display mostly, until the news died down and you were just another used toy that didn’t really mean much like a birthday present that the recipient pretended to love, but left in a box out of sight after everyone had left and the excitement died down.

That was why, no matter what you accomplished or what new thing you tried, even if you were a full blown child prodigy you wouldn’t really receive any praise or attention. You weren’t really her kid, you were her orphan, a trophy she waved around for better business and to look like a good person. You never forgot that. 

Instead of being bitter about it, you laughed curtly in spite of yourself, and went on with your day. Little did you know that this day wasn’t going to go anything like you planned.


End file.
